SHOT IN THE ARM MVA welcomes Northwest aircraft upgrade

Marianas Visitors Authority Managing Director Perry Tenorio said he expects the CNMI’s market share in Japan to increase with the recent decision of Northwest Airlines to upgrade its current aircraft from DC10 to B747 by October 1999.

Northwest said the B747 will be used between Guam and Tokyo, Saipan and Tokyo. It will result in an increase in seat capacity in both markets by 32 percent or an additional 630 seats per week for each Guam and Saipan market.

Visitor arrivals from Japan dropped five percent for the month of June due to the reduction in airline seat capacity to the CNMI, according to MVA.

Currently, there are 8,122 airline seats from Japan on a weekly basis, which represents a 21 percent decline compared to the period of the previous year. This was due to Northwest Airlines’ change of aircraft from B747 to DC10. At the same time, Continental Airlines terminated its direct flights from Osaka in April 1999.

Northwest made the decision to change its aircraft after Guam and CNMI governments and airport authorities reduced the aircraft landing fees in both stations.

“We are very pleased with the cooperation received from the Governments of Guam and the CNMI, the Guam International Airport Authority and the Commonwealth Ports Authority regarding the reduction of the landing fees,” said Martin Gross, general manager for the Philippines and Micronesia.

CPA has granted a 50 percent cut in departure and arrival fees to all signatory airlines servicing the CNMI to entice them to increase traffic and revive the ailing tourism economy.

The incentive, which took effect on May 1, 1999 and will be implemented until February 29, 2000, will be given to carriers that can provide an additional 15 percent increase in the total number of passengers that they bring in to the CNMI.

A change of its aircraft from DC10 to B747 was among the conditions set by the CPA board in granting a seven-month extension on its incentive program. Other conditions are submission of the traffic forecast from the current period to October 2000 and provided that extension of such incentive does not jeopardize the airport’s debt service.

The ports authority is scheduled to implement new airport rates in March 2000 as it is under pressure to generate the much-needed revenue to meet debt service coverage.

Gross said Northwest is committed to Guam and the CNMI, especially at this time when the island economies are badly in need of a catalyst to revive its ailing tourism industries.

Northwest Airlines, the world’s fourth largest airline, flies daily between Guam and Saipan to Tokyo, Japan with connecting flights to nine U.S. gateways and over 250 North American destinations.